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Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications

Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications is a research topic within Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics. Science Explorer counts 60k research works in it since 1950. 20.3% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers covers advances in atomic force microscopy techniques, including force spectroscopy, nanoscale friction, mechanochemistry, high-speed imaging, single-molecule studies, and their applications in biology and surface forces. The papers explore topics such as nanotribology, mechanical manipulation at the atomic scale, and the study of intermolecular forces.

  • Atomic Force Microscopy
  • Force Spectroscopy
  • Nanoscale Friction
  • Mechanochemistry
  • High-Speed Imaging
  • Single-Molecule Studies
  • Biological Applications
  • Surface Forces
  • Nanotribology
  • Mechanical Manipulation
Research works
60k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
12k
per year above
Top-10% rate
20.3%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
-17%
the tick is no change

Which countries lead Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications research?

By volume, China and the United States publish the most (1.2k and 970 works in 2022–2025).

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China 1.2k works
  2. 2 United States 970 works
  3. 3 Germany 375 works
  4. 4 Japan 370 works
  5. 5 France 260 works
  6. 6 United Kingdom 209 works
  7. 7 India 172 works
  8. 8 Russia 165 works
  9. 9 Italy 142 works
  10. 10 South Korea 108 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

China: 30.3%United States: 24.4%Germany: 9.4%Japan: 9.3%6 others listed: 26.6%30%largest
China1,203 · 30.3%United States970 · 24.4%Germany375 · 9.4%Japan370 · 9.3%6 others listed1,056 · 26.6%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications research?

By volume in 2022–2025, Tsinghua University publishes the most Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications research, followed by Chinese Academy of Sciences and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.

Who are the leading researchers in Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications include Zhong Lin Wang, Kenji Watanabe and Takashi Taniguchi.

  1. 1 Zhong Lin Wang United States 11k citations
  2. 2 Kenji Watanabe Japan 6.4k citations
  3. 3 Takashi Taniguchi Japan 6.2k citations
  4. 4 Hua Zhang Singapore 5.9k citations
  5. 5 Rodney S. Ruoff United States 5.5k citations
  6. 6 W. C. Oliver United States 5.3k citations
  7. 7 George M. Pharr United States 5.1k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

Where is Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications research done?

The largest centres of Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications research in 2022–2025 are Beijing (China), Tokyo (Japan), Paris (France) and Shanghai (China).

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Beijing China 256 works
  2. 2 Tokyo Japan 107 works
  3. 3 Paris France 96 works
  4. 4 Shanghai China 86 works
  5. 5 Moscow Russia 68 works
  6. 6 Nanjing China 66 works
  7. 7 Xi'an China 62 works
  8. 8 Hangzhou China 55 works
  9. 9 Guangzhou China 48 works
  10. 10 Chengdu China 47 works
See Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications on the map

Where is the best place to study Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications?

Among universities, judged by research, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Tokyo Institute of Technology score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 23.22%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne: 22, 23.9%Massachusetts Institute of Technology: 21, 27.9%Tokyo Institute of Technology: 22, 17.3%Tsinghua University: 47, 23.4%University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: 19, 31.2%ETH Zurich: 16, 26.3%Delft University of Technology: 15, 29.5%Kanazawa University: 14, 17.7%Southwest Jiaotong University: 23, 17.9%Xi'an Jiaotong University: 28, 17.1%Massachusetts Instit…École Polytechnique …Tsinghua UniversityTokyo Institute of T…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1 École Polytechnique Fédérale de LausanneSwitzerland 64.723.9%10.7×22 -16.7%
2 Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyUnited States 56.427.9%6.9×21 -24.4%
3 Tokyo Institute of TechnologyJapan 55.917.3%13.7×22 +4.8%
4 Tsinghua UniversityChina 55.323.4%4.8×47 +8.3%
5 University of Illinois Urbana-ChampaignUnited States 50.431.2%4.6×19 -31.3%
6 ETH ZurichSwitzerland 50.126.3%4.9×16 -11.8%
7 Delft University of TechnologyNetherlands 49.929.5%4.5×15 -11.0%
8 Kanazawa UniversityJapan 49.917.7%16.5×14 -0.3%
9 Southwest Jiaotong UniversityChina 47.017.9%6.0×23 +60.5%
10 Xi'an Jiaotong UniversityChina 46.517.1%3.5×28 +136.2%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 17% lower than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2012.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.